Clinton downsizes for final commencement address

President Clinton declined invitations from dozens of other schools when he decided to deliver the final commencement address of his administration at little Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., a sleepy community whose motto is ''The City of Cows, Colleges and Contentment''

Why would he go there instead of, say, an Ivy League campus for his potential history-making last hurrah on Saturday?

The choice is in keeping with Clinton's pattern each commencement season of addressing a military academy, a public university and a private institution, White House spokeswoman Sarah Gegenheimer said. He spoke earlier this year at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.

''Carleton College is well-known for its outstanding academic reputation,'' Gegenheimer said. Carleton is often near the top in U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings of national liberal arts colleges.

In his address to the 423 graduates, Clinton will talk about steps his administration has taken to make higher education more affordable, she said.

''He probably wanted a place where he could be more ruminative and speak to a smaller but highly attentive audience,'' said Michael Waldman, who was White House director of speechwriting from 1995 to 1999 and is now at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. ''For Carleton to be chosen as the last commencement of his presidency is a real tribute.''

The president also will address a Democratic National Convention luncheon and attend a Soul Asylum rock concert and Democratic Party fund-raiser in Minneapolis during his one-day visit.

The school about 40 miles south of the Twin Cities has 1,850 students. Normally, the college's outdoor commencement ceremony draws about 3,700 to 4,000 people. This year, 7,000 are expected.

The last time a president visited Carleton College was in 1956, when Dwight Eisenhower made a campaign stop amid the rolling hills.

Clinton's visit will probably go down in Northfield history right next to an 1876 attempted bank robbery by Jesse James and his gang and Gov. Jesse Ventura's convocation speech at Carleton last year.

Although Sen. Paul Wellstone was a professor at Carleton for 21 years, he wasn't involved in recruiting the president. Neither was Ventura, who has met with Clinton several times.

Thomas Freedman, a senior adviser to the president and 1985 graduate of Carleton, apparently had as much to do with the final decision as anyone, said Carleton spokeswoman Marla Holt. Freedman suggested the school invite Clinton. The school did, and the White House accepted.

''We were surprised,'' Holt said.

Commencements are one of the few times of year when a president has plenty of notice and a blank slate for a speech topic.

In 1995, Clinton gave an address at Michigan State University in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. ''You can't love your country and hate your government,'' Clinton told students.

In 1997, he spoke about the need for racial tolerance in an address at University of California at San Diego, shortly after that state passed an anti-affirmative action ballot measure.

Kathryne Beebe, a graduating Carleton senior who also will speak, said she feels a little added pressure with the president's visit.

''I'm a pretty confident speaker,'' said the 22-year-old English major from Belton, Mo. ''The size of the crowd doesn't bother me. What does make me nervous is that everyone is going to be critiquing my speech. I want to make it an intelligent, elegant sort of speech. I don't want it to be typical.''

On the Net:

Graduation to be broadcast live at http://www.carleton.edu/commencement2000/index.html